Snowbreaking
by AuraPhoenixx
Summary: Escapees Damian and Nixon continue to slip from Herobrine's grasp in the tundra, while new characters rise to take supreme, and the unspoken rift between Notch and Herobrine is revealed. (I was going to rate it T for all the gore, but then, this DOES happen to be a world where toddlers can play COD.)
1. Chapter 1

**This is the sequel to Triumph in Strangerlands. If you haven't read it, I'll recap for you; Friends Damian and Nixon escape the clutches of Herobrine when they are sucked into the game and now, 1 month later, find themselves still on the run in the snowy Taiga.**

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~Damian~

The dancing flames of our campfire ensnare me in it's spell as it flickers side to side, long arms of flame waving into the night sky. I lie beneath a canopy of low-hanging vines, waiting for Nixon to finish the hunt. I think back to the past month and all that had happened. Herobrine must still be out to get us. The likes of him, I know, would never let any witness escape alive. I know he regrets what he did, I heard him say so, but now that he's done what he's done, he cannot show mercy. Trina's death cry still rings in my head whenever I pause to think, and I remember the looks of sheer horror on the faces of the others as Trina died, blood seeping out from the gaping wound on her chest. I know for a fact that they are dead too, I saw their bodies being carried out and buried. _My own thoughts are killing me, when will Nixon return...and where are Eden's remains? _

~Nixon~

The scent of beef fills the night air as I approach a herd of bovine in the plains bordering our Jungle campsite. A small calf stands up high, ears pricked, as it hears me approach it. I take out a bow and arrow, and aim carefully, drawing back as I target one of the fatter cows. Meuhhh. It screams once before hitting the ground, dead, my arrow piercing it's left eye. The others cry in alarm, before scattering. I approach the dead cow, and begin ripping out the good pieces of meat and skin with a shard of rock I had found earlier. Stuffing them into my inventory sack, I hurry back to our base, me and Damian's. Upon arrival, I spot a strange, blocky character in the distance. He looks around slowly, and that's when I realize his eyes were glowing white. _Herobrine is coming. We have to run._

~Damian~

Nixon's face reflects both of our moods right now, grim, and scared. "We must leave camp now," He says. "Herobrine is close." I nod, and begin to pack up our most important things, like weapons and food. Nixon secures the camp before coming back to me, and together we kill the fire and leave without trace.

~Nixon~

Dawn is breaking upon the eastern horizon. We must hurry before daylight. A lazy river flows slowly before us, each movement stiff and un-natural. I look back at the jungle that we had just left, then ahead, into a snowy forest. We drop our precious golds and swim to the other side. The water is cold fire.


	2. Chapter 2-Aria

**We have a new character, Aria. Thanks to MyLittleMuffinZ for the suggestion.**

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~Damian~

Snow covers the ground as I step through the newly-transformed forest scape. Nixon walks behind me, sweating heavily as he lugs all of our food and tools along. I brandish a single stone sword, knocking the leaves away from us as we trudge on through the snow. The distant howling of a wolf pack leaves me uneasy, and everything seems to flash white, like Herobrine's eyes. The bleating of sheep close by keep me alert in the daze of dawnlight. A lost ocelot from the jungle pads into the forest, following us for awhile, before disappearing the way we came. Wind howls still as the snow dies down. I see a vast landscape of trees and thick, fluffy snow, set alight by the fiery sun. Even a beautiful scene like this seems depressing.

~Aria~

"Come, cat." The ocelot steadily strides towards me, eyes alight, head held high in pride. I lean down, holding a fish in my hand. The ocelot snarfs down the fish, and begins to groom itself. I watch it for a while, then get up and leave. The ocelot follows. It's been ages since I escaped Herobrine's cavern, along with three others. I remember hiding out in the bushes near the gaping cavity, watching as each of my friend's remains were tossed out into the open by Herobrine's clones. Another escapee was with me, though I don't know where he is now. All I know was that I fled, and was successful. Now Herobrine was coming to finish me off. I walk cautiously out of the jungle, when a flash of white caught my eye. _Herobrine. _I snuck around a tree bend, but was caught. Herobrine stared at me creepily, and raised a diamond sword. He came closer. I could feel the shadow of the diamond blade on my head now, as Herobrine then began to lower the sworrd at incredible speed. _"Phoenixrising5 was slaughtered by Herobrine." _His words made me uneasy, as I tried to dodge the falling of the dreaded sword. Suddenly, somebody jumped in front of me, sword in hand, and blocked Herobrine's attack. Seeing an opponent rise, he quickly teleported away. I sighed in relief and turned to thank the stranger, but all that was there was a trail of footprints. _Perhaps leading to another escapee... _


	3. Chapter 3-Sighting

~Nixon~

The weight of the axes we had brought was surprisingly heavy. I drag the sack across the snow, heaving with effort, while Damian happily swings his sword back and forth, occasionally yelling things like, "Huzzah!". Knowing Damian's usual grim personality and tendency to be a killjoy, I had thought I would be the bright and happy one. I was totally wrong. Damian looked at me, smile faltering when he realized my burden. He sighed. "I might as well just carry the sack for you, then. You can have the sword." I stopped myself from jumping with glee as I heaved the sack onto his back, and took the light sword from his hand. Damian gasps from the weight of our supplies, but grits his teeth and holds it high above him, slowing down his pace to let me walk in front. A herd of horses weave through the trees, smelling of fresh grass from pastures ahead, hooves turning up the snow. I had an idea. "Wait here." I tell Damian, before thrusting the sword into his free hand and creeping up towards the equine.

~Damian~

_Mental Facepalm. _Nixon was going to try to tame a horse, I knew it. I watched as Nixon approached a small dusky coloured horse, and tried to climb onto it's back, just to be flung onto the ground. One of the horses reared up, ready to smash Nixon's face with a giant hoof. I turn around, not wanting to watch, a Nixon's screams echo through the forest. Two glowing white eyes catch mine as I look away from the chaotic scene. _Herobrine. _Herobrine takes a diamond sword and walks towards me, a sly smile on his face. Shock hits me when I see blood on the blade. _He's already killed the other escapees. _Terrified, I scream at Nixon and we both drop our things and flee the scene.


	4. Chapter 4-Murderer's Mercy

~Eden~

I stare at the wound on my face as I bathe in the river, turning the waters red. Deep regret fills me as I remember trying to protect that girl I didn't even know. Selfish as that was, keeping to myself was the only way I was going to survive and maybe even go back home. Let the past haunt me then. Trees sway slowly in the wind, stirring up eddies of leaves everywhere in the sky. The clouds pass above and slip away, out of sight. The sun begins to set, slowly dipping towards the ground. Until now, I had never realized how beautiful Minecraft really was- it seemed almost real. I look below me. The water runs quickly down-river, forming occasional puddles on the side. Lily pads line the middle, seemingly untouched by time. A lone horse canters away into the trees, and a pack of wolves howl at the now-rising moon. I see it is full. I walk slowly out of the river, sighing at the cold relief of night, and retreat into my makeshift base. The last rays of light bide me farewell, as I retreat into the darkness.

~Damian~

Nixon runs ahead, being more fit than I am, leaving me to trail behind him, exhausted from the 5 kilometer run._ It's really not my fault! _I stop and look behind me. Herobrine was nowhere to be seen. I sighed in relief and yelled to Nixon, panting. "Yo Nixon! You can stop running now!" Nixon came back to where I was, looking very relieved. "Herobrine's gone?" I nodded. "Yeah." We looked ahead, then behind us, checking if he had magically teleported to us, and flopped onto the ground in exhaustion afterwards, happy he wasn't on our trail. Snow falls gently from above. Something shakes in the tree above our heads, raining a large pile of snow on Nixon. Laughter fills me for the first time in awhile. Two snowflakes stay in mid-air, glowing slightly, before vanishing. _Was it Herobrine again?_

~Aria~

Two cats scamper up a slope. I smile, even though I'm depressed as shit, looking at the dreary swamplands up ahead. A wooden-looking construction sits in the middle, emitting random sparkles. I decided it was a witch hut. _Though it could easily be the works of Herobrine... _Suddenly, I felt a presence behind me. I spin around, ready to face the opponent with my bare fists. It was Herobrine again. He smiled slyly and vanished. I was freaked as hell. I slowly rotated my head to look behind me, and saw Herobrine for a split second, before he vanished again. Then he was back, sword in-hand. I screamed the loudest scream I could utter and began to run furiously towards the swampland. I targeted the weird wooden house, hoping he couldn't get inside, and jumped onto it's roof. Herobrine was coming closer, using only a quarter of the effort I was, seemingly skipping across the terrain. He was out to get me. I frantically searched around for a way to get out of sight, and decided on smashing a hole in the roof and jumping inside. Herobrine came even closer. I frantically began pounding the wood, scratching at the loose parts, until it finally gave away. A similar block of wood, but smaller, floated in the space in front of me. I tried to walk into it, but it wouldn't let me. _I thought that was how you picked up stuff in Minecraft! _It wasn't. I instead tried grabbing the piece of wood in my hands. It came out. I looked around. Herobrine was nowhere in sight. Clutching the block of wood to my chest, I jumped into the hole, squeezing myself through the tiny gap. I peek outside. Herobrine was gone.

~Herobrine~

I must find the escapees. I must find the escapees. I think to what would happen if I didn't. I shudder. _Ahh, who knew living in a game could be such a burden? _Suddenly, I approach a small dirt hut on the border of a river. _One of them must be inside! _I had to find them, and finish them off before it was too late. Diamond sword at my side, I slowly crept in through the door. A boy who looked about 14 sat inside, arranging all sorts of treasures. I shut my eyes, and think about that one thing. Within seconds, I have teleported behind the boy. I sigh regretfully, shaking my head as I raise the sword. _Would I really do this? Notch would hate me... _The boy sensed my presence and turned around. His face went pale and his hands shook, dropping a gold ore onto the ground with a clang. "What do you want from me... Herobrine?" His mouth opened and closed again. I could sense he was at loss for words. I almost feel happy for what I did then. I let the boy go. He took some weapons, opened the door, and was gone from sight.


	5. Chapter 5-Scathed and Bloody

~Aria~

The moon passes above the sky. I step slowly out of the witch hut, looking around for any sign of Herobrine-or worse. Nothing. Nothing unusual, that is. I could still definitely see a zombie and skeleton's silhouette against the light of the stars. A slime slithers and hops along the ground, ducking through thick vines and lone. freestanding trees. Weirdly, no monsters were chasing me. I looked out at the sky again, and instead looked into the eyes of a creeper. It made a rasping sound, before starting to inflate. I knew the drill. _ 3, 2, 1...BOOM! _The blow would have knocked many hearts out of me if I was the player, but now it just stung like hell. Especially the left side of my face. I touched it gingerly with a finger. Blood oozed onto the ground along with another yellow-ish liquid that could be barely seen as it dripped into the grass below, and it's stains hidden by the game. Normally I would have complained, but I knew that complaining in this game would leave me with only dread... and so would standing around. A skeleton's arrow sliced through the air, hitting me square in the stomach, stunning me, if not killing me, leaving me with limited vision - everything had started to black out. Little dots, like blackflies, swarmed my vision. I could make out the face of something, something human, before I everything went dark.

~Eden~

I walk through the edge of a witch hut, which seems to have suffered a recent creeper explosion. The smell of gun-powder still clings in the air. And that's when I see it. A fricking girl with half her face blown up, lying on the ground with a god damn arrow shot though her stomach. I stare at the girl for a moment, wondering what I should do, when I hear someone whisper something behind me. _WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?! IS THIS MY FATE?! _I shake my head. I know this cannot be my fate. It just can't. But yet, I feel a heavy breathing down my neck, and a smooth, cold blaze press up against my face. _"It's time to go and join the others, I have already spared you once already..." _Oh my fucking lord of god, it's Herobrine again...

~Nixon~

I lie in the makeshift igloo I had built, waiting for Damian to come back from his hunt. I had insisted I do it, but he was too stubborn to care, and left on his own without the proper supplies. Suddenly, a rustling sound makes me jump. Something shining white comes out through a tree. Cold sweat trickles down my spine. _Was that Herobrine? _The white thing inched closer. Fighting all common sense, I screamed and lunged at the thing, just to fall on something soft. _Snow._ But that's not all. Something hard was underneath that. It was still. I dug through the snow to find Damian's face, covered in blood, his eyes blank. _He's dead?! _But then I realised he was breathing. The blood soon dripped off to reveal there was no wound on him. _This must be a prank. _I suppressed a smile as I took his wooden sword, and in return, placed it dangerously close to his throat. _Closer, closer... _then suddenly Damian jumped up from the ground, screaming, and tried to punch me in the face. I knew this would happen. And I'm glad it did...until I saw the white eyes. Herobrine's eyes.


	6. Chapter 6-Herobrine strikes

~Damian~

Nixon stares ahead through the trees at something, something white, something glowing. And attached to a blocky body. _Herobrine. _He stared at us for a minute, a grin of pure evil drawn onto his ugly, pixelated face. His diamond sword glints at his side, as he reaches for it, putting a firm hold in it, and begins to draw it out, draw it out to kill us. He stares at us for a minute, looking into each of our eyes, studying us, before dropping the sword and shaking his head. _"Best for last." _And with that, he disappeared.

~Aria~

I wake to the sound of humming. One side of my face was missing it's skin. Blood poured out onto the wood I lie on. The humming sound gets louder. I sit up and look around. A boy was standing by a cauldron like thing, humming a creepy, almost depressing tune, which sounded very familiar. I just couldn't out my finger on it. I shifted to get up, when the boy notices I'm awake. He turns towards me, but immediately drops to the ground faceforwards, a deep gash on his back, blood seeping through his ripped shirt and onto the ground. Pixels within the blocks shift underneath him as they are tainted by his blood. He lies on the ground, jerking slightly, each time in a five-second interval, before, on the sixth jerk, he stopped. And was dead. Two white, glowing eyes narrowed menacingly in the dark, the glint of a bluish blade caught the moonlight. I was so screwed. _It's Herobrine again. _And this time, no one was here to save me. Herobrine lifted the sword, above his head in the classic stabbing position, and ran at me, the sword flying downwards. I dodged his first attack - barely. The sword struck the ground, stuck between two stiff planks. I saw this as a chance to run. So I did. I ran as fast as I could, right into the neighbouring biome. And didn't look back. Not even once.


	7. Chapter 7-Herobrine falls

~Nixon~

Loud footsteps thunder through the snow behind me. The sound of a girl screaming. Blades whipping through tree leaves. I hear another scream, much more familiar, from not far away. White, glowing eyes illuminate the ground as Herobrine appears out of the pale dawn, blood dripping from his diamond blade, and, to my horror, Damian's head hanging from it. Herobrine smiles evilly, drawing out a new diamond sword, slowly advancing upon me. _Aw shit! _I really couldn't believe I'd die like this. I had been sure I wouldn't. I had always thought I was somewhat "immortal", since I'd always be able to slip our of near-death situations in the real world, so much that I considered my only way out as old age. Then I look back to Herobrine. And realize I was wrong. He advances still, sword raised high above his head, blade gleaming in the early sun. And charges. Suddenly, a vine-made lasso flies through the air, catching onto Herobrine's neck, choking him. A somewhat younger girl, covered completely in blood, jumps down from a tree, reeling the lasso in, tightening it around Herobrine, who gagged and spluttered, arms flailing. I looked at her and we exchanged happy glances, me sighing in relief at the knowledge I would live another day. Herobrine opened his mouth, screaming the most terrifying thing I could've known, bringing it to reality; _"Y-You do realize," _He screamed, _"If I die here, I go back."_ Then he spoke no more. He flailed weakly, emitting eerie gurlging sounds, and opened his mouth once more, as if trying to say with that, he fell limp.

~Aria~

Herobrine falls to the ground, a continuous rain of green orbs erupting from his body. _Experience orbs. _The other and I stare in horror at the blood on the ground, and at ourselves, covered with the same substance, from our kills and from our wounds. We look at eachother, and I know the same question rings in his head. _What does Herobrine mean by "Go back"? Did he mean...back to the real world? _The question bared with me for the rest of the Minecraft day.


	8. Chapter 8-Notch

**Okay, to everyone who read to here from the previous story, thank you so much.**

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~Herobrine~

I come back to the world the way I was years ago, dressed in a lab uniform, brow furrowed in concentration. But this time, I wasn't in the lab, ready to got blasted into virtual reality, I was standing beside Notch, who was furiously scribbling at a table, perhaps working on his latest game. Seeing my brother for the first time in years filled me with anger. Why did he abandon Minecraft? Why did he let them try to kill me? What was he thinking? "Markus." He looked over at me, his face white with shock, and perhaps fear. "W-What are you doing here? Why are you not in Minecraft?" Anger swoops from high places in my being, threatening to erupt. "They tried to kill me, Markus. They tried to kill me." His face was one of guilt. I continued, "Why did you let this happen, brother!? Why did you move on!?" He sighed. "I had to." "You had to?!" "Yes. I couldn't let anyone know anything else more when rumors of you spread. I had hoped you would know to stay out of other's business. I was wrong. When I stepped down, I wanted to tell someone about you, I wanted to make sure you were never hurt. But the words never came." How did I know he wasn't lying? "You kept me a secret from our own father, we worked together not as brothers, but as co-workers. You never wanted anyone to know I existed, that was the plan, wasn't it? You were happy to finally get rid of me, you were happy to take everything for yourself!" I was furious. "I wouldn't have been so mad if you'd just told someone, anyone, who and where I was. Because of your selfishness, I was nearly killed! Terminated! Destroyed! That's what you wanted, wasn't it?!" That's when the anger erupted for real. I grabbed a small knife off the table and pointed it at Notch.


	9. Chapter 9-The bottom layers

~Nixon~

The girl, Aria, was her name, had insisted on forming an alliance, so we did. It took a lot of time (and brainpower) for us to realize where Herobrine was headed. It was obvious when we knew. Herobrine must've gone back to the real world, he might be there to seek revenge on the Minecraft team - or Notch. Hopefully we weren't too late to stop him. "I guess we're going to have to kill ourselves to go back." She says one day. I nodded. "I guess so." She sighed. "How? Wild wolves? Lava-fall?" We decided on falling into the void. "It's got to be less painful," says Aria, "All it is is falling, and you don't even crash." So the next day, we were ready to fall into the void. We began early morning when the monsters hadn't even burned and started digging directly down, so none of us would chicken out and go back up. Down, down, down. Layer 65, 63, 62, 34, 16, 5, until we reached layer 4. That's when the difficulty began. It was sealed by bedrock. I called over to Aria, who was in a tunnel beside mine, spazzing over the indestructable obstacle. "What are going to do? We can't go up, but we can't go down!" I called back. "Maybe we can go into creative mode?" "Like how? We can't type or anything, remember?" _Maybe we can. _Call me crazy, but I think we just might...


	10. Chapter 10-The Jump

~Aria~

"Do you have any better idea?!" He threw at me, "Do you?!" I sighed and shook my head. I guess he made a valid point. _I had no better idea. _"Alright, fine, lets get on with it then. What do I do?" He began to speak, and I silently prepared myself for the silliest of instructions. "Okay, just look forwards and think really hard about typing." "How hard?" "Really hard, okay?" I focused my thoughts solely on typing, being able to put some words into this world. I inclined all my physical energy into it too, hopefully I could access Creative mode and bust out of here. A faint chatbox-like thing flashed before my eyes, before disappearing again. I tried harder. _I had to make it stay. _"That's it," I heard someone say, "Keep going..." The chatbox came again, and stayed this time. I looked at it real hard and thought about letters and symbols. _Slash came first. Then g, then a. _I continued putting each letter into the chatbox, then finally, the gamemode ID. _1. _I then thought hard about sending that command, just sending it. "Steady..." It was sent. Faint words appeared before me, _gamemode updated. _"Yushhh!" Nixon looked surprised. "What are you waiting for? Punch!" So I did. I punched at the bedrock, which gave a way in an instant. "Keep going!"I punched some more. "Even more!" Finally, the last piece of bedrock gave away, particles of grey dust falling into the dark, empty void. Nixon and I high-fived, cheering for the success of breaking the final layer. It felt good to do the impossible once in a while. "So, who's jumping first?" Nixon pointed at me. "You." _Why me?! _He smiled mischievously. "You chicken?" That did it. Nobody called me chicken. I took one last look at the outside, took a deep breath, and jumped down. Screaming announced Nixon's jump. I looked up to see him screaming in terror, flailing helplessly, trying in vain to reach solid ground. _Who's chicken now?_ That satisfied me, as I continued to fall into the void.


	11. Chapter 11-Back

**To all the awesome readers: I apologize for the lack of quality for Snowbreaking. It was kinda weird how I spent the weeks where I was supposed to be polishing playing Minecraft and Cobalt. Will try harder in the next story. Thanks!**

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~Nixon~

Is this pain? Was our jump in vain? I opened my eyes, and saw, to my delight, the warm colours of my bedroom wall. I was the only one there. _Wonder where Aria ended up? _I exit the room and go outside, taking in the warm rays of sun. Suddenly, something tapped my shoulder from behind. It was Aria. "We need to stop Herobrine." _But where in the world was he? _Aria looked to the ground, deep in thought. "He may have gone to Mojang Studios, in Stockholm." I wanted to deny it. I wanted to make it untrue. But I knew it had to be. "How're we going to get to Sweden?" Aria shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?" _Oh great. "_Well, we can't get plane tickets or anything... Maybe we can sneak onto one?" I expected Aria to say something sarcastic, but instead she just nodded. "Continue." _She was actually thinking about it!_ "Well, we can walk to the airport from here, find a plane going to Stockholm, and sneak on board. We can pretend to be part of a random family or something, then ditch and find a space in the plane storage for the ride." Aria nodded slowly. "That sounds ok. We should go now." "Alright." Making a turn down the street, we headed towards the airport.


	12. Chapter 12-The window

**This is the last chapter of Snowbreaking before I move onto the 3rd installment, Return, mostly in the perspective of Herobrine (Thumbs up!).**

**Sorry for the short chapter.**

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~Aria~

"Do you even know where the office is?" Nixon asked. I wasn't sure exactly, but I knew it had to be somewhere around this part of Stockholm. The plane ride had been a nightmare, especially when we were forced to wait it out under the back seats, which was "conveniently" located next to the smelliest washrooms. Looking up the road, I saw the office, perched atop the horizon. "It's this way." We quickly ran across the street then up the next one, racing towards the office, which had the air of utter grandeur. "This must be why they were nominated for nicest office..."

~Nixon~

Finally, after what seemed like hours of running, we approached one of the first floor windows. The silhouette of two men appear. One seems to be holding something in his hand, raising it above his head, pointing it downwards at the other. That's when I realized it was a knife. And then I realized the two men were Notch and Herobrine.


End file.
